Who We Are
by withloveme
Summary: ONE-SHOT. Something I made for school. Ryder and her little brother, Jason, need to get on the Titanic so they can escape their life of crime. Very little romance. A lot of family.


**Who We Are**

"Don't worry about a thing, Jason. I'll be back before dark." I tried in vain to calm my little brother down. He didn't like me leaving him alone in our shack like house while I went to get food and other necessities. He'd never admit to it though.

"Please, please, please, Ryder." Jason chanted into my stomach, the only part he could reach with his ten year old self on my seventeen year old body, as he pulled me into a tight hug. "We have enough food. Just please, please, stay. I don't want you to get caught again." He pleaded and shoved his face farther into my stomach. He knew I couldn't say no to him.

I sighed and fisted my hand on the top of my waist long blonde hair, we really needed food, and we barely had enough food to last us to the next morning, if we were careful. But I realized that I couldn't even show my face around town anymore without someone recognizing me as the killer's daughter and chasing me away. Last time I was caught stealing food for my brother and I, I was almost put in jail before I managed to get away. It was heartbreaking to see my brother's hidden face in the crowd of people watching me get pulled out of the town square before I managed to get away from the men holding me.

"Fine," I sighed again and he hugged me a little tighter. "But I will have to leave first thing tomorrow morning, before the sun rises." I hugged his shoulders, the highest part of him that I could reach.

He had very fragile emotions; he would sometimes cry himself to sleep because of mother, and how she died, and of father who was thrown in jail for murder. Not being able to confirm if he is dead or alive. Or about, me having to steal for us to get food into our stomachs, or to be able to stay warm.

"It will be okay," That was becoming my catch-phrase now. "We'll make it through." I kissed the top of his head through his thick dark brown hair and murmured calming words to him. "We'll be okay."

I felt him yawn into the thin cotton of my dress covering my stomach. "Come on, Jason." I whisper to him, and tried to pry him off of me and closer to his bed made of stolen coats. "Let's go to bed." This was the hardest part. He'd never want to go to bed. Afraid of the nightmares that haunted him in his sleep.

Mother had always known how to coax him to bed. She would sing him one of her old childhood songs that grandmother, who we'd never met, would sing to her. But after father went to jail, she wouldn't sing anymore. So it was up to me to sing Jason to sleep. He wouldn't sleep if one was not sung to him.

I gently lay him in his coat bed, and cover him in a large coat as a makeshift blanket, and I made myself a place beside him on the cold dirt floor. He looked up at me after he got himself situated in the coats; his eyes were full of excitement as they always were when I sang.

I opened my mouth ready to sing, but it's not my voice that comes out. It's a voice of a passerby.

"How are you getting your tickets?" one asked.

"Well, I think it's a waste of money, but my wife, she wants to be one of the first people on 'the ship of dreams'. You know how she is." The other said.

This conversation now held interest to me, if I could get Jason and I on the ship of dreams, we could leave. Get a fresh start. Someplace new. Someplace where no one knew who our parents are, who we are.

The two passerby's voices slowly faded into the distance, out of my hearing range. I needed to know more.

Jason kept his eyes locked on mine, and at this moment, I forgot how old he is. In this moment, he looked wiser than his years, like he understood what this conversation could mean for us.

I knew he probably could tell what I was thinking. He could read me like a book, and I was sure that my face, at this moment, was one of shock mixed with hope.

He opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it, and closed his mouth, again, waiting for me to begin singing.

I opened my mouth again and sung one of the most used lullaby's that mother would sing. By the time I was done, he was out like a light. I shifted my weight so I could kiss his forehead, and I moved myself so that now I was lying beside him, still on the floor.

He looked so peaceful in his sleep. Free of worry, free of the hurt and the pain that this life that we lived brought to us. He looked like his true age, a small ten year old boy that was just trying to make it through life like any other.

Then it hit me, like a ton of bricks. We really needed to get on that boat. I needed to do this for him. To give him a new start at life. He needed to be a kid, act his age for once. Not having to worry about if there's going to be food on the table the next morning. Or if I might not come home from one of my "outings" one day. Not to live in fear about someone coming after us to get back at father for one of his many kills. He needed time to be a kid, to make friends, something I never had. I will make sure he has that chance. Even if I never had.

I'm not sure what time I fell asleep that night, but when I wake up the next morning, as usual, I am not well rested.

I look over to my right, prepared to see Jason's sleeping figure but I am surprised to find his coat bed empty. This alone frightens me. Where could he be? He knows I don't like him leaving the house alone. Leaving it even, he knows it's not safe outside. Where would he go? It's not like him to leave without me, and when he does, he tells me; where he goes, what he does, and why he has to go.

I heard the small wooden front door slam closed followed by very quiet footsteps.

Our shack like house was quite small, with only two rooms which are not very big. There's the kitchen, with a few pots and pans scattered all over the place with a small place in the corner that's filled with ashes, it's where we have the fires for thing that need to be cooked. Along with a few cabinets to keep the stolen food in, it would be harder for the rats and mice to get to it that way.

With the front door, if you could call it that, more like lose boards pulled together by rope, connected to it.

Then there's Jason and mine's makeshift bedroom, it's not really a room, more like a large tunnel in the wall. The walls are made of dirt with a few wooden boards pressed to the walls to keep it somewhat stable. Jason's coat bed is up against the wall, and I usually just stay close to him in case he wakes up with another nightmare.

I haven't moved from my position facing the dirt wall, my back to the door. The intruder, who for a second I think could be Jason, comes behind me and lightly shakes my shoulder. I am surprised by this at first, then I realized that the overly warm hand on my shoulder is in fact; Jason. Where had he gone?

I turn to look at him, ready to lecture him about leaving without me, but as soon as I see his smiling face and his happy bright green eyes, I melt. I could never stay mad at him, I love him too much.

I open my mouth ready to ask where he had gone off to, and how long he had been gone, but he stopped me. "Before you say anything, hear me out," he put his hands up in defense, he must have seen my face. "So, you remember the passerby's from last night, right?" an obvious answer to that obvious question. How could I forget? This could be our chance to have a fresh start. "Well, I found out that the 'ship of dreams' is called the; Titanic. And it sets sail in two days! Oh, I also found this." He seemed proud of himself that he could gather so much information about the boat on his own. He handed me a newspaper that had a few grease stains on it, must have been in the trash.

The front heading read;

**_Titanic; The Ship of Dreams!_**

_The Titanic is the first of its kind; it has a specialized system so that it can't sink! The Titanic is the first of many, and is to be setting sail on the tenth of April 1912. Our town will have the honor of having it set sail off one of our docks! The Lance family is kind enough to donate a part of the money that was used to construct the Titanic, and will be aboard the boat as well. To buy tickets, please visit one of the local shopping centers. To read more about how it was made, please turn to page four. _

The rest didn't interest me like the front page did; I could care less about how it was made and who gave the money to build it.

I looked up at Jason with a sparkle of excitement in my eyes; I could see the same in his but with wonder and adventure mixed in. He also looked hopeful, he must be thinking along the same lines as me.

"Jason…" I trailed off, not really sure what to say. This is big, something we need to fully think through. We could never get enough money to buy tickets, no matter how much money they cost. We can't even show our faces around town without being hunted down. How could we get tickets?

Jason must have noticed my expression. "Don't worry about the tickets, Ryder. I have a plan." The small smirk that was put on his face looked out of place. His face was almost always smiling, it looked different. Jason didn't look like Jason if he wasn't smiling.

I was at war with myself. A part of my wanted to know what he was planning, but the other part didn't.

"And what's that?" I found myself asking.

He looked right, and then left, behind him, then over my shoulder. Like someone in their right mind would walk into this rickety old house. But I knew that he knew that, there was no one in here, he was just being Jason. He cupped his hands over his mouth before he whisper-yelled at me, "We don't get tickets." The smirk was still placed on his lips.

It took me a second to fully understand his plan. Not get tickets? Then how are we going to get on the boat? Then I understood. It surprised me at first that he could think of this on his own. He wanted to sneak onto the boat. He was smarter that I gave him credit for. I felt ashamed of myself for not thinking so highly of him. That feeling went away and I get back to the task at hand.

"You want to sneak on the boat?" my statement came out as more of a question. I wasn't sure myself if it was meant to be a question or a statement. Maybe both.

Jason nodded his head fiercely. "And you thought of this on your own?" again my statement came out as a question.

He smiled at me, "Does that surprise you, Ryder?" he asked, mocking me.

I decided to be honest with him. "You know what? It does!" I laughed a little.

He seemed shocked with my honesty, but quickly realized that I was making a joke at his expense and laughed at me. Or maybe with me. He didn't seem to mind, and neither did I.

When the laughter died down, we just sat there. Jason on his knees, leaning in front of me, and myself still lying on the dirt floor.

He had this faraway look in his eyes, like he was in deep thought, most likely was.

When the silence started to get uncomfortable, I moved my body so that I was leaning back on my elbows. That broke him out of whatever state of mind he was in and he looked over at me, waiting to see what I would do.

I stood up to my full height and towered over Jason. He craned his neck to look up at me, I smirked. "Well, if we are going to try your idea, then we best get moving." I said while stretching my right arm. "We will need to get packing," I switched arms at the same time a large smile grew on his face, his eyes wide, pouring into my silver ones. "We probably want to be on the boat the day before it leaves the docks. We want to be hidden, invisible. Like always just on a boat."

The spark of adventure continued to set flame in his eyes, if it were even possible, his smile grew even bigger, like it was coming off his face. "This is going to be awesome!" he yelled, but then remembered where we are and who we are and quieted himself by covering his mouth with his hands.

When he looked happy like that, I couldn't help but smile even though I knew it was wrong. He shouldn't be excited to be sneaking on a boat that we wouldn't need to be on if our parents were normal. He should be excited for learning something new in school, not about hitching a ride on an overly expensive boat.

He stood up with me and hugged me the same way he did the night before, and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders again, kissing the top of his head.

"I'll get the bags, and you grab two sets of clothes, okay?" I asked him, if we were going to do this, we'll need to be ready for it.

"Sure, Ryder." He squeezed me tightly for a second before letting go of me and walking over to the far corner of the room where our pile of clothes were.

With us, there was no clean pile, or dirty pile, just one small pile of clothes, that get washer once every two weeks in the lake one mile from here.

I leave the bedroom, and go into the kitchen to get a bag. We won't need more than one.

Jason came in the kitchen a few seconds after me; he didn't need to get much. He put the even smaller pile of clothes on the dirt floor in front of me, "That should be good," he said looking down at the pile with a small triumphant grin on his face.

"And this," I held up the medium sized bag that was in my hands to show him. "Should be just the right size," I unzipped the duffle bag and looked to see how much room it could hold. "It looks like it could hold…all the clothes in the pile…and…about three days' worth of food." I didn't tell him that the food that would fit in the bag would be a very small amount, and we would have to eat a little less than what we have been usually eating. Which isn't a lot in the first place. Or that the food that we packed would probably not even last for three days and would need to be thrown out.

Jason had never complained about how little there was or how gross it probably tasted. Sometimes when the food I brought home was too bad, he would plug his nose to not taste it.

Jason was always trying to pretend that everything was fine, like the next day we would have our mother and father back, and they would love us. He, of course, would never say these things aloud. I knew he thought about it sometimes, though. I would catch him, sometimes, calling me; mom. When I would ask him about it, he would brush it off as a slip-of-the-tongue. But it has happened on more than one occasion.

I couldn't even begin to imagine how this experience has been for him, having to grow-up without a father to teach you how to play sports, or a mother to teach you how to patch yourself up afterwards. He just had me. I was nothing special. I wasn't the best athlete; I only knew the basics of healing someone. What could I give him? I will give him another chance at life, starting with the 'boat that can never sink'.

The rest of that day was spent planning how to actually get in the boat with no tickets. I managed to steal a blue-print of the ships inerter and Jason and I decided on what spot would be better for hiding. We needed someplace that was easy to get into if any of the crewmen came too close, but also someplace that can hold both Jason and I for sleeping arrangements.

"What about this spot?" I asked Jason, pointing to a small room next to engine room.

"Too noticeable. The crewmen would be walking past that place day in and day out. We'd never be able to get out." He mumbled the last part.

Again I looked at him as wiser than his years. The way he studied the map made me wonder, how much he actually understood about our situation. I opened my mouth, about to ask him the question that's floating around in my head, but he beat me to it.

"What about here?" he proposed, pointing to a small room at the bottom of the ship. There was no possibly way that anyone would walk by it on a regular basis. There was only one floor above us. It was unnoticeable. It was perfect.

"Perfect." He looked up at me with a triumphant grin on his face. "Yes, now let's get to bed now; we have a big day tomorrow." He nodded, and went over to his coat bed, not wanting to argue with me the night before we made our trip. The sun has long since set, we have been looking for the perfect spot for hours, Jason was probably dead on his feet, but trying not to show it.

I neatly folded the map and put it in the bag with our clothes and food before going over to lie beside him on the dirt floor. He looked over to me after he and I got ourselves the least bit comfortable, waiting for me to begin singing.

I sang one of his favorites. Jason had always had a love for this one, I never knew why. He always seemed to be connected to it on some kind of level that I never could.

He was asleep before I got to the chorus. I didn't mind, my eyelids were closing like someone was closing the blinds.

When I woke up, the sun hadn't risen yet. Perfect. This is just what Jason and I need, I clean getaway in the cover of night.

Before I woke Jason, I double checked our bag with the food, clothes, and the map. It was all there, in the same place I'd left it the night before, on one of the kitchen cabinets.

I lifted the strap over my head, around the top part of my body, and placed it on my shoulder. I turned back around, ready to wake up Jason now that I have everything that we needed, but Jason was already standing near the front door, ready to go. His shaggy dark brown hair was never perfectly in place, so it was no different; sticking out all over the place, but at the same time looked right in a way. His clothes were darker and in better condition than his other clothes. He must have gotten up around the same time as me.

He stood, waiting for me. "Ready to go, Ryder?" he questioned me once I reached the door where he was.

I sighed, "Now or never." I responded and opened the door.

When we got to the docks, finding the boat was easy, it's the biggest boat there. Getting into it was the hardest, but it was manageable.

We were able to locate our place that we were going to call home for the next little while without a problem. Jason seemed to know every twist-and-turn of the ship; he must have studied the map of the ship more than I had thought.

Our new home for the while was a small, dark, crawlspace of some sort. There wasn't another name to describe it. Cubby hole, maybe? I didn't know. The ceiling was at my middle back which made me have to bend over to just walk in it, even if there wasn't a lot of room to begin with. The walls were steel, nothing special. The size of the crawlspace is just like that name said; crawl, you need to crawl around instead of walking because there isn't enough room to do that. And then there's the word; space, which there isn't much of that. The room is about the size of a van, but not in height.

I didn't care, and neither did Jason. I was just happy we made it in safely without being spotted by anyone.

Jason quickly realized that we weren't going to be doing anything for a while, and went back to sleep with a short lullaby from me. He did have a pretty long night last night. We didn't have enough room in the bag for food, clothes, and his coat bed. So we both now had to sleep on the cold ground.

There was nothing to do really, so I quickly fell asleep beside him with the knowledge of knowing that we're safe and sound. For now.

I, as usual, woke up before Jason, his head now cradled in my lap, to the sound of hollers and feet pounding on the floor above us.

Jason was a light sleeper so after a minute of the pounding feet above us, he woke with a start. His head shot out, off of my lap and shook furiously, his eyes going in every-which-way. "What? Where? Ryder?" He questioned frantically.

"Shh, it's okay, Jason." I rushed quickly to reassure him. "We're on the Titanic now, remember?" I turned his face to meet my eyes as I looked him in his bright green ones, there wasn't much light in the crawlspace.

The moment his eyes met mine, he visibly calmed down. "Oh, yeah, forgot." He apologized breathless. I giggled and he smiled at me sheepishly. "Sorry, Ryder. I didn't mean to wake you." He looked down, not meeting my gaze.

"It's okay, Jason. I was already awake." I explained. "Don't worry." I gently lifted his face back to mine, forcing him to make eye contact. "We're fine and safe here. Everyone's on the boat now, we should be leaving the docks soon." The footsteps above us have long since quieted down. No sounds could be heard except the cheering.

Not five minutes later, Jason looked over to me with excitement in his eyes. The boat was moving. We were leaving.

The ship of dreams has set sail.

Jason and I couldn't go up to the top deck and wave to the people on land, of course not, who would we say goodbye to? We weren't supposed to be here in the first place.

We played games, talked, ate, slept, or sat in silence to pass the time that was going by slowly.

I didn't know what time it was when Jason and I heard loud banging and lauder music from the floor above us. I looked over to see Jason now awake and looking at me with a pleading expression.

He wanted to go and see what was happening, but knew better than to ask. I sighed and tried to run a hand though my hair, forgetting that Jason had braided it a while ago. "Fine, let's go." What was I saying? We could get caught. Too late now, he's already getting up and a permanent grin plastered on his face. I stood up as far as I could without hitting the ceiling, moving my dress higher so I could walk easier.

Before I opened the small door leading into the hallway, I turned to look at him threw the darkness, "But one wrong move, by either of us, and we're gone." I didn't want to sound mean, but I had to make sure that the rule was clear.

He nodded his head rapidly. "Don't worry, Ryder, we'll be fine." He gave me a reassuring smile.

I shook my head, but a small grin of excitement growing on my face. Maybe this could be fun.

I was right, the moment we reached the 'party', if that's what you call it, and we were surrounded by happy, laughing, dancing, drunk, people. Almost all of the men had a drink or two in their hands, the rest were dancing, or playing music. Jason and I had never been in the same room with so many people before. It must have scared him because he was clinging onto my arm like a life-line.

I leaned down so that my mouth was at his ear. "May I be ever so gracious as to dance with you, kind sir?" I asked him in a high-pitched voice.

He laughed at my vain attempt to calm him down and nodded his head. He let go of my hand and bowed, I laughed with him and took his outstretched hand.

Instead of putting my hand on his shoulder, I took both of his hands in mine and begun to twirl him. We laughed, smiled, and generally had fun for the rest of the night. Temporarily forgetting our troubles, even if just for one night.

By the time we made it back to our crawlspace, Jason and I were dead on our feet. We laid down together, using my dress covered stomach as his pillow. I was almost asleep when he asked for a lullaby. I couldn't deny him, he was probably homesick, and so I tiredly sang him his favorite one. He was asleep within seconds, and so was I.

The next morning, was freezing. The thin cotton of my dress did little to keep me warm. I was shaking so much that it woke Jason; his head was still on my stomach from last night.

"Ryder?" he asked threw half lidded eyes. "Are you okay?" he was barely shivering; I could never understand how I was always the cold one out of the two of us.

"Yes, Jason. I'm fine, go back to sleep." I had to force myself to stop shivering so that a sentence could leave my lips clearly.

He was half asleep so he didn't fight it, just placed his head on the floor beside me.

I knew we needed blankets, food, and money. All of which we don't have. But Jason and I could manage without blankets; we could just use the clothes that we brought with us. For food, I could probably sneak into the kitchen and take a little that would be unnoticeable. But as for the money, I might be able to pickpocket one of the first class people, they always seem to have money burning a hole in their pockets.

I stood up as far as I could without hitting the ceiling, and carefully made my way over to the bag in the far corner of the room without waking Jason. I zipped open the bag slowly, not to make unnecessary noise, and took out all of the clothes that Jason had packed.

I used one of the coats to cover myself and the others to use as blankets for Jason. When I put them on him, he stirred then relaxed and fell deeper into sleep.

I made a split-second decision, and walked over to the small door. I took a deep breath and opened it. I stuck my head out the door and looked left, than right. No one was here. Perfect.

I stepped out of the crawlspace and shut the door behind me; I let out the breath that I didn't know I was holding in. I took fast quiet steps, and kept looking over my shoulder, expecting someone to be there, ready to stop me. I had no idea where I was going, just let my feet take me wherever they wanted. A few minutes and staircases later, I found myself standing on the top deck of the ship. Somewhere I've never been, except in the dark, for a brief second. No one was up here with me.

Since Jason and I were down in the crawlspace, we had no way of telling the time, but now as I look up to the stars in the dark of night, I can tell that its late at night.

In the stars I could easily make out the constellations that they made in the sky.

"Cetus, Dorado," I mumbled the constellations to myself. "Orion, Phoe-"

"That's the Phoenix," I heard a deep, gruff voice say behind me, the person cut me off.

I spun on my heels quickly. I was caught. The colour drained from my face. The person who cut me off; a tall man wearing a black tuxedo with a matching black bowtie, with ink black hair, well built, and had stunning sapphire blue eyes, he looked about my age, maybe a year or two older. I couldn't do anything; I didn't know what to do. I couldn't run, he would know something's wrong, and if he decided to follow me, I couldn't lead him to Jason; he looks like he could run faster than me.

To him I probably looked like a fish out of water. My worn out cotton dress with stains all over it, my hair in a messy braid because I had slept in it, my face stricken with fear, the colour gone from it, my mouth opening and closing, trying to get a sentence to come out of my mouth.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, he moved his arms out to me, like he would catch me if I were to fall, and took a step closer. In response I took a step back, no used to being around anyone else but my brother. He quickly noticed my movements and pulled his hands up in defense, but not moving back. "It's okay, I won't hurt you. I just want to know your name." he requested slowly.

I took a chance and glance at him, his sapphire eyes pleading me. "Ryder." I replied stiffly.

He smiled a little, showing his perfect straight, white teeth. "Got a last name?" he pried.

I didn't want him to know my real last name, he could have heard of my farther and his crimes and get someone to thrown me off the boat. So I lied. "Ryder West." I raised my head a little at my new name. I was no longer the killer's daughter; I was now my own person. "Yours?" I pried.

"Darren, Darren Lance." My jaw all but popped out of its sockets. He's a Lance. His family helped pay for the building of the Titanic. Darren didn't seem fazed by my reaction to his family name; this must happen a lot then. He looked me straight in the eye when he spoke. "Well, Ryder West, would you like to teach me more about the constellations? I only know the Phoenix." A light smile graced his face while he spoke.

I looked him over, skeptical. I knew he was probably rich, and in first class. I could probably pickpocket him if he comes close enough.

I let the words fly off my lips before I could think of a reason to chicken out. I needed to do this for Jason. "Sure, come here." His stance relaxed as I said this, and he walked over to me, leaning over the railing.

I didn't waste time talking just started pointing out the constellations. "Pavo, Pisces, and over there is the Sagittarius and his Sagitta." The time seemed to fly by; I couldn't even keep track of it. I kept naming the constellations until the sun started to chase them away.

In the middle of telling him the constellations, the wind was starting to get colder, and I shivered. Surprisingly, he took off his tuxedo coat and lent it to me. I had smiled at him. I slid my arms in the arm holes, and put my hands in the pockets. There was what felt like a bundle of cash.

Who would carry around that much money? I wondered to myself.

When I went to give him back his coat, he stopped me. "Don't worry about it. I have plenty." I don't think he was talking about just the coat.

I gave him a slight smile and slid the coat back on after I took it off part way to give it back. "Thanks." I responded slowly. I started to walk backwards slowly, Jason would probably be waking up soon and I didn't want him to worry, or worse, come looking for me. "I have to go now,"

"Wait!" he yelled after me, luckily no one was on deck yet. So they couldn't hear him. He ran over to where I was standing, he hadn't noticed me start to walk away. "Wait," he whispered when he was close enough to me. "When will I see you again?" his voice was sincere, and I didn't know why. I was nothing more than a cockroach under his feet that he couldn't get rid of. One of the people that keeps him rich by being poor. Why would he care about me, of all people?

"I-I-" I didn't know what to say. What was I supposed to say?

Darren noticed my hesitation. "Why don't you come to dinner tonight, with me and my family? You can bring your family too. I'll meet you here, at six o'clock tonight." He started to walk backwards like I did. "Don't be late!" he called, and turned away from me.

Without a second of hesitation, I sprinted towards the entrance that I came from.

My feet, once again, knew exactly where to go. I made it back to the crawlspace without complication. I burst through the tiny door to find Jason asleep in the same spot, and position as I left him in hours ago.

I fast walked over to him and started to shake him awake. "Jason, Jason, Jason!" I yelled as loud as I dared to. "Jason, wake up!"

"What? What, Ryder? What's wrong?" He interrogated franticly. "Are you okay?"

"Get up," I commanded. "We need to do some shopping. Now. We're going to dinner." I stood up as far as I could and went over to our bag to see if there anything in there that we could use. "Nothing," I mumbled to myself. There was absolutely nothing that Jason and I could wear to dinner tonight without looking out of place.

"What are you talking about?" he used his fisted hands to rub his eyes awake.

"We got invited to dinner by a member of the Lance family." Jason's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, like my jaw did when Darren told me his family name.

"Really? Are you sure?" he pressed, intrigued now.

"Yes, I'm positive. But, we need to get something to wear." I didn't even need turn to look at him to know his expression was one of surprise and excitement.

I kept rummaging through the bag to see if by magic suitable outfit for Jason and I, but with no such luck.

I sighed and took out my braided hair, brushing it out with my fingers. "Jason, stay here and I'll be right back." I started to walk towards the door, my hands still trying to brush out the knots that had invested themselves into my hair. I ignored his questions about where I was going and what I was doing and placed my hand on the doorknob, and turned around to face him. "I'm going shopping, don't leave this place." I gave him one last stern look before opening the door and stepping out, shutting the door behind me. I took a deep breath, let it out and started walking like I was meant to be here. I walked around aimlessly for a while, before finding what I was looking for.

The sign on the door read;

**_Cleaning Room – Staff Only_**

Hopefully, no one was in there. With that in mind, I pushed open the huge double doors and stepped inside. There was only one person, and that one person was sitting in a chair with his head tilted off to the side, breathing deeply. Asleep.

I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding in and quietly made my way over to the woman's dresses that were being washed. I quickly scanned the racks, upon racks, of dresses. I finally found a simple but fancy enough dress for a dinner. It had I good neckline, four fingers below the chin and was made of pure satin, the satin was dyed lavender purple, and had a white lace over coat that covered the dress entirely, but left some of the lavender showing threw it. It covered most of my arms up to my elbows, and the length going down to the floor. All-in-all, it was beautiful. I once again looked around, expecting to see someone watching me, but found no one, so I quickly grabbed the dress off the rack and placed it over my arm. The tag slipped out of the dress for a second before I pushed it back in so on one could see it. But I was sure that when that tag was out I saw the name; _Diana. L_. I didn't know who that was, and I didn't care, the woman wouldn't miss it for one night.

Next I walked over to the boy's area and found a small black tuxedo with a dark blue bowtie to match. Once I made sure that it was the right size for Jason, I placed it on my arm, on top of the dress.

Simple enough, I mused to myself. This wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

I walked back over to the door that I had come in threw and silently opened it and walked out, shutting the door again once I was completely out. As soon as the door was closed, I ran down the halls, and down the stairs to get back to the crawlspace before anyone saw me, or Jason got to worried and comes looking for me.

Once I was there, I opened the door as quick as I could possibly do without making a sound, and shut it behind me once I was in the crawlspace.

I turned to face Jason but found he was asleep, again. I decided to let him sleep while I combed my hair for anymore existing knots that were left over from before.

There wasn't many left, so that left me with a lot of time on my hands. I knew that I would have to wake Jason soon so that he and I could get ready and meet Darren for dinner. But I also knew that if I were to wake him up too early he would get restless and want to move around, which wasn't an option in our crawlspace.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed before my stomach started to yell at me to eat. I realized that I haven't eaten since the day before. I tried to ignore the yelling of my stomach, but soon it was becoming unbearable. I gave in and went over to the bag in a different spot then I had left it in. Jason must have been hungry too because some of the food is missing. I told myself that I could only eat a little so that I could save the rest for Jason when he woke up again. I took a piece of bread from half of a loaf and began to eat it slowly and carefully.

I was almost done with my piece of bread when Jason woke up. He was groggy and mumbled his words when he spoke, he was very sleep deprived I guess. He looked over at the dress and tuxedo that I had gotten and stared at them, open mouthed. "Where did those come from?" he requested, slightly in shock pointing to the clothes. He walked over to where I placed them and gently picked up the dark blue bowtie in his right hand and rubbed the material in between his thumb and forefinger, as if to make sure it was real.

"We can't keep them," I made myself very clear. "They are not ours, they do not belong to us, and we will give them back after tonight." I had stolen things before, sure. But this was Jason's and mine's fresh start. No mistakes can be made, I will not have this messed up for him, and this is his new beginning. "Before I forget, Jason, when people question you about who you are, just say that we grew up in a small town and are just looking for an adventure. Oh, and your last name is West."

He nodded his head in understanding to both of my commands and kept rubbing the fabric of the bowtie, it was calming him, I think.

Time had passed, while we talked about things that we would do when we docked. I could feel my stomach starting to yell at me again and I guessed that the time was close to six even I had no way of knowing for sure.

I got Jason dressed in his tuxedo and me in my dress and we silently walked up and down the hallways and up countless stairs, before we finally got to our destination. Darren wasn't there yet so I figured that was a good thing. We were early, not late.

I didn't know how much longer it was going to be before six, so I ushered Jason over to a bench as close to the meeting place as possible. We had just only sat down when I felt eyes on me. I turned my head over to see who it was but found myself getting lost in his sapphire blue eyes. I don't know why this was happening; I had barely spoken to him. I couldn't like him yet. Could I?

When I saw Darren, I made Jason rise from the bench along with me, and took his left hand to lead him over to Darren.

When we started walking so did Darren and we met in the middle. "You came." He almost whispered. He ran a hand over his – now – sleeked back hair and let out a breath he must have been holding in.

I was confused for a second. Why wouldn't we come? Was there something wrong? I was going to voice my questions but Jason had other things in mind.

Jason coughed loudly from beside me and I broke my gaze from Darren to confirm that Jason is alright. Jason coughed again, but I could tell that this one was for attention. He already had mine, but it was Darren's who he wanted.

He coughed one last time to make sure that Darren held his attention on him before Jason stuck out his free hand out to Darren. "Jason. Jason West, and I'm guessing that you're Mr. Lance?" he had a serious look in his face which didn't seem right; his face was more natural with more happy expression.

I couldn't help but laugh at Jason when he said this, he is trying to be older then he really is. Or is it because he's protective of me? I never thought of it that way.

I was too lost in thought to realize what was happening around me, that is, until I felt another hand take hold of mine and start to pull. I was scared for a second before I remembered where we are who we are. I remembered that Jason and I are no longer the killer's children, but our own people. Jason and Ryder West.

The hand that was leading felt unfamiliar in my hand, but at the same time it felt like it should be there.

"Call me Darren," the voice was from the hand that leads Jason and I, Darren Lance.

Darren leads us inside the dining room where everything looked too expensive to be on a boat. He took us over to a large table in the far corner of the room with two other people already sitting down, their backs to us. From what I could see of them, Darren's mother had her long black hair in a braided bun and the top of her head, while wearing a perfectly white dress made of what looks to be satin. His father looked like an older version of Darren but his ink black hair was streaked with gray, he had the same sapphire eyes and nose which was pointed. He was wearing a white tuxedo with a black bowtie to match. The opposite of Darren.

"Mother, father, they're here." I could almost hear the smile on his lips, and when he turned back around to face Jason and I, I could see it too. I have no idea as to why he is happy about seeing Jason and I hear, wasn't that the arrangement? For us to come and eat with them? I hope so; I don't want to take extra chances with us getting caught.

His mother and father turned around and they didn't look as happy as their son, but had small smiles on their faces all the same. Why was everybody so happy?

When Darren's mother's eyes looked me over, her face turned into a frown. I guessed that there might be something wrong with my dress so I looked down at it and tried to smooth over the imaginary creases. This made her face look angrier. What had I done?

"Is everything alright, mother?" Darren voiced the question that he and I were both thinking.

"That is _my_ dress!" She practically hissed.

Oh no, no, no, no. The colour drained from my face for the second time that day. This can't be right! I couldn't mess this up now! Not when Jason and I had come so far! What had I done? How could I be so foolish?

"I-I-I-" I had no clue what to say, I had nothing to say. There was nothing to be said.

"Mother," Darren said sternly. "Are you sure? This is all probably a misunderstanding." I was surprised, why was he trying to make the situation better? Trying to help me.

"I am certain that that is my dress, she stole it!" she bellowed, and before I could get a lame attempt about why I took my-her dress she was already yelling for security.

I had no other thoughts in my head other than to get Jason out of here. We couldn't get caught now; we were so close to our new beginning.

Darren had not let go of my hand, so I wrenched it free and held onto Jason's tighter. I pulled him along with me, running as fast as I could with Jason.

There were shouts and yells from behind us, but I paid them no mind, all but one was ignored. "Wait, come back," it wasn't a yell or shout, but almost like a whisper.

We were being chased, I knew that, but I didn't have the mind to turn around and face them. If they got a good look at my face, this could be all over.

I still griped Jason's hand as if it were the only thing keeping me on this earth. I dragged him threw different hallways and down different stair cases to see if we could lose the people chasing us. We managed to escape all but one pair of footfalls.

"Wait, stop, please!" the pair of footfalls yelled. I knew that voice anywhere. Darren Lance.

What was he doing? I thought about all the possibilities that he could be following us for. I let go of Jason's hand and whispered in his ear to keep running as fast as he could to the crawlspace, he started to protest and made my promise to come back before he took off running down the halls.

When Jason was gone, I did exactly what Darren wanted. I froze; I went from a full sprint, down to nothing in a matter of seconds. This took him by surprise and he almost crashed into me. His hands fell on my shoulders to steady himself, when he touched me, there was a spark. I thought I had imagined it, because a second later, it was like it never was there.

He turned my body around to face him; his face was set in a smirk? I had no idea how someone could be so happy all the time.

"What was that?" he pried, he didn't sound mad about it. He sounded like he was happy about it. What is with these people? "Really, what were you thinking when you took it?"

"What's it to you?" I had no clue as to why he would take in interest in me, but I don't want him to know about who I was, but there was a strange feeling inside of my saying that it was okay to trust him.

"Well, that is my mother's dress that you are wearing." A smug smile appearing on his face. I hadn't thought of that. "How is it?" he asked.

"How is what?"

"Stealing, how does it feel?" why would he care?

"Wrong," I speak my true thoughts on this. "It feels like…like…you can't even trust yourself anymore." I have my eyes trained off on a paint chip in the wall as if it would take me away from here.

"Really?" I don't respond. "I always thought of it as _exhilarating_."

"Why would you think that?" My head snapped up at his statement. "It is nothing, absolutely nothing, exhilarating about it." My voice came out harsher than it was meant to.

He hummed, sounding somewhat amused. I was getting tired of his thinking, it was either he would turn me in, or let me go. "Let me go, I need to get back to my little brother, he needs me. Now." If he was going to turn me in, I was going to make him feel bad about it.

His face held conflicting emotions, but dropped his head a little when he answered so that I couldn't read his face anymore. "One condition," he still had his head down, so he couldn't see the smile growing on my lips. "We'll meet again soon."

I highly doughty that we ever would see each other again, but promised him eagerly so that I could get to Jason and our crawlspace faster.

He let me go without another word, but I thanked him over, and over again as a sprinted towards Jason and our crawlspace.

When I got inside our crawlspace, I couldn't find Jason right away, but soon found his body outline under all the clothes.

"Jason," I whisper-yelled to him.

He shot up out of the pile of clothes and he came over to me as fast as he could, and wrapped his arms around my waist. He started crying again like he would do just before I would go out on a raid.

"Shh, it's okay Jason, it's okay." I had nothing else to say, right now it's okay, but I didn't know about what would happen tomorrow, or the day after that. I stroked his head, trying to calm him and reassure him that everything was going to be okay, even though at the same time, I was trying to convince myself the same thing.

We fell asleep like that, his head leaning on my shoulder, arms around my neck with one of mine around his waist. Our old clothes on and the fancy things thrown in the corner.

The next few days were spent doing nothing, Jason and I just sat in silence, slept, talked, ate, or looked at the map to pass the time.

It was nearing the end of the third day, I came to the conclusion that I would need to go to the kitchen and get food; all we have left is four pieces of bread for dinner. When

Jason was asleep that night, and the bread was eaten, I took a chance, and opened the small door and ran out of it, shutting the door behind me, of course.

I sprinted towards the kitchen, even though at this time of night, no one would be in the kitchen now.

When I reached the kitchen, I took whatever would last, and whatever I could carry. There was a large shaking of the ship, but it was ignored by me.

I heard him before I saw him, "Thanks for keeping your promise." I felt a hand on my shoulder that stopped my movements entirely. Darren, again.

I froze. I didn't turn to face him, I kept my back to him trying to convince myself that he wasn't really there, but the hand on my shoulder said differently.

I was trying to make up my mind weather I would turn to face him, or just run away. But I always keep my promises, I turned around do that I could face him; I leaned up against the countertop. His face was inches away from mine, I could feel his hot breath on my face, and I was sure he could feel mine too.

I looked up into his eyes which was a mistake because I got lost, once again, in his sapphire blue eyes that always seem to sparkle.

He started leaning in. What was he doing? I didn't know, I just stood there waiting for something to happen. Nothing did, because at that moment in time, the ship lurched forward making Darren fall to the ground and my on top of him.

I didn't scream, and neither did Darren. He just looked at me with confusion in his eyes.

"Wha-" I didn't get time to finish my question before we were thrown across the room. What was happening? But that no longer mattered; I needed to get to Jason. Now,

When Darren and I stood up and were stable I took off running.

"Hey! Where are you going?" he bellowed after me. I didn't answer him, just kept running to the crawlspace.

I heard loud footfalls from behind me and I turned to find who it was. Surprise, surprise, it was Darren.

"I need to get to Jason." It took everything in me not to shout these words to him.

He didn't answer, just kept running alongside me. When we got to the lower decks, there was about an inch of freezing cold water covering the floor.

"Jason." I breathed to myself, but Darren heard.

"He's down there?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes." Without time to give me a way out, I ran into the hallway, the water splashing my feet and ankles.

It took the thought of Jason still down here to make myself keep moving forward.

When Darren and I got to the crawlspace, there was more than three inches of water covering to floor. I was scared, Jason was in there. When I tried to open the small door, it wouldn't open no matter how hard I tried. It just wouldn't open.

I turned around to Darren, "Could you, you know…" I trailed off, hoping he knows where I'm going with this. I hated asking for help, no matter who it is, it shows weakness.

He didn't say anything, which I was grateful for; he just went over to the tiny door and kicked it in, like he was kicking air.

As soon as the door was open, Jason rushed out and leaped into my arms. He kept whispering my name over, and over again. I faintly heard him whisper about how worried he was for me, not even being scared for himself.

"Don't worry, Jason. We've got you." When I said 'we' his head shot up from my dress covered stomach and looked around automatically. When he spotted Darren, he whispered 'thank you' to him too.

"We got to get out of here," I stated, the water was starting to rise faster. "Quickly, let's go." I started pushing them towards the emergency exit.

I took Jason's hand and tried to help him run faster. The water was almost and my knees now. We really needed to get to a higher deck. Now.

Darren was a few steps ahead of Jason and I, so by the time Jason and I got to the end of the hallway, Darren had already managed to get the door open, and was waiting for us.

I pulled Jason ahead of me so that he could get up the stairs before the water got any higher. Darren let me up next and I bolted up the stairs after Jason. I heard Darren shut the door behind us and his racing feet up the stairs coming up after us.

"We need to hurry," Darren breathed, he was out of breath from running up the staircase at full speed, so was I. "That door won't hold that long if the water keeps coming in as fast as it was. The door was only wood." He added, now sliding down a wall for a break. There were only three more flights of stairs left to climb before we were at top deck.

"Then let's keep moving, there's no time to waste." As much as I would like to sit with them and take a breather, we needed to keep moving.

Darren stood up and pulled Jason up with him. Jason was still panting like a dog; he had never had to run up so many stairs before. I was going to offer to carry him on my back when Darren picked him up and did what I was planning on doing.

"Ready." Darren clarified. I was shocked for a moment that he would do something as kind as that, like he could read my mind. But then I heard the water flowing through the – now opened – wooden door.

If we were going to leave, now would be a good time to do so, before the water catches us.

We raced up two more stair cases before Darren and I both needed to take a break. Jason had his breathing under control so he could run on his own now.

The water was coming faster and we needed to move. I ushered Jason and Darren to keep moving, I hadn't gotten my voice back, and I was still breathing deeply because of all the running.

As we ran up the last staircase, there was a shift between plain white walls to dull colored ones with gold accents across them. But I paid them no mind as we all sprinted away from the water crashing through the hallway.

We were almost out of the room and to the decks when I felt a lurching of the ship pull Darren and I back. Jason was unaffected by this movement and was at the door before he turned around to see Darren and I in the same places as he was ten strides ago. Jason's face was a mix of confusion before he realized what was happening.

The ship of dreams was breaking in two.

Jason's hand reached out to us as if to hold mine, but it was in vain. I looked down at my feet and saw the wooden floor take my left foot over to one side and take my right over to the other.

I looked to see Darren in a similar position, facing me. I felt sorry for him, he helps Jason and I, and then he dies helping us. It's not fair. He doesn't deserve to die like this; he has a family to live for. I can't die either; I have Jason, who needs me.

Before I had time to think of what would happen to Jason if I died, I looked up and met Jason's tearful green eyes one last time before the floor fell through.

I felt like I was flying and I couldn't stop it. It needed to stop so I could get back to Jason. He needed me now. I couldn't leave him up on deck with no protection whatsoever. I needed to keep him safe.

All of a sudden, the flying stopped, everything around me froze for a split second before everything went black.

When my eyes reopened for the first time in what felt like hours, my whole body felt like it was on fire. It took me a second to realize that it wasn't fire that was running threw my veins, but adrenalin. There was no air in my lungs, that's what the fire was, and the loud drumming in my ears, was my heart hammering against my chest trying to break out of my body.

I didn't know how much longer I had left before I blacked out again, so I forced my eyes to open.

The salt in the water made my eyes tingle, but it didn't hurt.

My eyes scanned the room that I was in, it looked like the kitchen. I tried to look for a way out, but there was none; the split in the floor had closed and all of the windows in the kitchen were too small for my body to fit threw. When I felt my body start to give up, I spotted a figure under a pile of broken plates.

Darren Lance.

With the energy I had left, I swam over to him and put two fingers to his neck, where his pulse should be.

It was silent. The only thing I heard was the beating of my heart against my chest. Nothing else.

For the last seconds of consciousness I mentally said good bye to Darren, I also apologized for his fate. I also said my farewells to Jason; I wish that I could be there for him. Watch him grow up, fall in love, get married, have kids, see him beside my hospital bed when I die of old age. But all that is thrown out the window now. He will be alone, continue his life without me. If he survives.

My eyes start to shut, and I know it's only a matter of time before I'm gone. I send all my love to Jason, and I give him my strength. I can't think of anything else to give him but hope so I give him all of mine. That's the last thing I can think about before my mind shuts off completely and the blackness engulfs me for the last time.

Epilogue

Ten years later

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me. It won't work though. Nothing will on this day.

"Come on, Jason. Let's go, we don't want to be late." A soft high voice murmured behind me.

I turned to see that the person holding my shoulder was my adoptive mother. She had been the one to find me in an old house that was like the one that Ryder and I used to live in. I didn't want to think about that now; it was too painful especially today.

I didn't say anything, and Mary didn't expect me to. She just leads me over to her car and got in the driver's side, while I got in the passenger side.

Mary didn't mind me calling her; Mary. I just didn't want another mother to walk out on me, again. So I figured that if I didn't call her mom, it wouldn't happen.

I didn't feel like talking, I never did on this day.

The rain pelted the windows of the car and made loud noises that annoyed me. I never liked water; it only got worse when Ryder and I were on the Titanic.

No, I don't want to think about that. Not yet, anyways.

I stared off into space, not paying attention to where we were going. I knew the way off by heart.

When the car skids to a stop, it startled me. Only for a second though, then I righted myself and put on a straight face. There would be no crying today. Not until I am alone, I think to myself.

I don't get out right away, I sit for a while before Mary lost her patience and reached her arm across my body to reach my door handle and opened in. I sighed; this was going to be a long day.

I stepped out of the car and onto the lushes green grass that matched my eyes. I didn't care though; I kept on my straight face and walked through the large gates.

I walked through rows upon rows of large rocks before I found the one that I was looking for. I stood in front of the large stone for a minute, before it all started to come back to me. Her face, her eyes, expressions, personality, hair, everything. How she would always be there for me when I needed her, and sometimes when I didn't.

I sank down onto my knees and cried for my sister. I shimmied closer to the stoned that had my sister's name on it, feeling somewhat closer to her when I did.

**_Ryder Aislinn West_**

They never could find her body, so this is just a stone with her name on it, nothing special about it. But oddly enough, I felt just a little bit closer to her when I saw it.

The people who were carving the name into the stone asked me what her last name was, I was going to say our real last name, but then I remembered that Ryder had made us a new identity using a different last name so no one would know who we are. I wasn't going to throw away what chance she gave us at a second life, even if she didn't get to live in it. I knew that she would want to be known as her own person instead of the killer's daughter.

Beside her rock was another name that was welcomed into my life for a short period of time, but still important to me.

**_Darren Allen Lance _**

I cried harder when I remembered him. His face, his eyes, expressions, personality, hair. How he saved me from the crawlspace when the ship of dreams was sinking.

It's ironic how everyone said that the Titanic, the ship of dreams, could never sink. It was supposed to be the ship that could never sink. I could almost laugh at how ironic it was. Almost.

I'm not sure how long I sat there, drowning in my own tears, but when the sun was about half way up in the sky, I felt the same warm hand that was in the same place this morning on my shoulder again.

"Let's go home," Mary's soothing voice said. I could only nod my voice hoarse from crying.

Today, ten years ago, my sister left this earth, along with a man I now consider a friend.

Mary led me out of the grave yard, and into the car. She always understood what this day meant to me. It was the eighth time that she had to do this with me, she always was dependable. Always there when I needed her, just like Ryder was. She sometimes tried to get me to talk about Ryder, or Darren, or the Titanic. I always ignored her, never wanted to relive the emotions, the horror, and the pain.

By the time she stopped the car outside our small house, I had decided that it was time to tell her everything.

Mary led me inside and poured her and I a cup of tea while I sat myself down at the wooden kitchen table. She pulled up a chair across from me and looked at me expectantly, like she was trying to read my mind.

I sighed and ran a hand threw my hair, here goes nothing. I opened my mouth and started to tell my story before I could think of a reason not to. "Ryder, she was my older sister by seven years. She took care of me when no one else could. She took the beatings, she gave me her food, she gave he her blankets, she sang to me when I wanted her to or when I had nightmares, she gave me everything. She was there for me; she was always close by if I needed her. She was probably the only person who believed in me." My throat felt swollen and I couldn't breathe, my vision was starting to blur from the tears threatening to spill over, but I wouldn't let them. Mary put her hand over mine to comfort me, I think.

I needed to continue, Mary needed to know what happened. I opened my mouth again when I could breathe properly and continued from where I left off.

I told her about Mother and Father. About Ryder, and how she used to sing to me. Even about Darren when we got to that point.

I told her how Ryder and Darren looked like when the Titanic split in two. How their faces were fear stricken. How I was like when they fell. How I didn't know what to do when they did.

When I finally got to the part where I was put in a life boat, Mary had refilled out tea cups three times.

"One of the crew men had put me in one of the last few life boats, because I was a boy and I was hardly a child, but still thought of me as one. As the boat lowered, one of the side levers got stuck while the other kept going down as nothing affected it, which it hadn't. The boat started to tip, pulling me backwards. There was no time to stop it. Everyone on that tiny life boat, was thrown into the freezing, ice cold water with no way back on. Some of the women who couldn't swim, and children who were too small for the life vests and couldn't swim, drowned right away because they couldn't keep their heads above water. I could hear the men shouting from above, probably their wives or children. Maybe both.

"I was one of the lucky ones. I could swim Ryder taught me, I had a life vest on, so I didn't have to work as hard as the others without, but the water. It was so cold. I couldn't move-I couldn't think. I couldn't do anything to help anyone. There were women and children, even some of the men, crying, yelling, screaming, pleading, for help. For anyone that would come. No one came." My voice broke on the last word. Even ten years later, I still remember that day like it was yesterday.

I excused myself from the table, Mary didn't mind, she just sat still her hand empty from where I took mine from.

I went to my room at sat on the corner of my large bed. I sat there for who knows how long, just thinking about nothing. Mary came in and she sat with me, silently waiting for me to continue.

I did after a minute of her holding my hand. "The ship had gone down not long after we did, everything was happening so fast that I could barely process everything. The yelling of everyone had stopped after a while and I was dead silent. If anyone was alive, they showed no signs of it. The children weren't crying, the men weren't trying to look for their wives or girlfriends, the women weren't screaming at their children to keep their heads above water. We had floated for so long that I thought no one was coming to save us. I was so close to death, I didn't think that I could last it much longer. Then, in the distance, there was the sound of water being moved, being pushed out of the way to make room for the rescue boat that came to save anyone who survived.

"When they found me, I was flapping my arms like wings trying to get them to notice me. Which they did. They hulled me up into the rescue boat and covered me with a stiff blanket. I didn't mind though. I was alive." She knew the rest of the story.

How she found me in the old deserted house downtown, how she brought me to her and raised me like I was her own. When she found out that she couldn't have kids, how she changed her mind about taking me to the orphanage. How she started to love me.

I never thought of her as a mother. More like a really good friend. I was never going to call someone Mother and have them taken away from me again. I was never going to have a sister again. No one could, would, or ever will replace Ryder. Or how much I love her. Or how much I am in dept to Darren for giving me a few extra moments with my sister.

Mary left the room and shut the door behind herself. I was alone with my thoughts that ended quickly when my head hit the pillow and I fell asleep, dreaming of my sister.

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